Every student at Altea University knew about the Positivity Board, and how they treated the board could be categorized into four groups: there was the group that regularly posted motivational and inspirational quotes, using it for its intended purpose; there was the group that made it a joke and posted vulgar doodles and hateful comments; there was the group that didn't give it much thought, acting like it wasn't there in the first place; and there was the group that liked to stop by and read some of the good notes to give them a little boost to get through the day.

Shiro easily fell into the last group. At first, it was just out of curiosity. When the board was introduced in his second year, he had wondered how the student body would take it and decided to take a look. At the time, the board was mostly barren, only a handful of notes plastered onto the rich brown of the cork. He counted five notes with positive messages, and three with doodled penises and insults. Setting the latter group aside, he thought that it was nice how some people would go through the trouble of scribbling a few nice words down and posting them in hopes of encouraging their peers. It wasn't much of a surprise when he found himself standing in front of the board, reading the notes whenever he noticed the number had increased.

More than a year later, the number of notes stuck to the board had increased drastically. It was completely covered now, many newer notes overlapping with older ones. It had become a routine for Shiro to stop by the board before heading to class, selecting his favourite message among the new additions. He would usually read them over a few times before continuing on his way. He never really actively search for notes written by the same person. That was, of course, until the day he noticed a pink sticky note on the ground near the board.

Thinking it must have fell off, he swiftly picked it up before the wind could blow it away. With how often he visited the board, it had become almost natural for him to restick notes that had fallen off and throw out those that simply vandalized it. When he flipped it over to check its contents, he was surprised at how pretty it looked. A number of colours had been used to write the message, the blues and purples fitting well against the pale rouge of the paper. Unlike the simple style majority of the notes on the board held, this one looked almost as if had been printed, the only indication that it wasn't being the slight indentations at the back of the paper. He ran his fingers over them. Whoever wrote it had obviously taken the time to write their message in fancy lettering.

Seeing how pretty it was made him smile, but reading the message had him grinning to the point that he could barely see. 'Ultimately, I believe we'll be okay -A,' it read. He recognized the line from a song that easily made its way to his favourites. Despite the melancholic feelings the song held, it always gave him hope that things would be okay and allowed him to relax when he was stressed. Finding these words on a note was something Shiro had not expected, but it made him happy that someone else- this A- might have found the same comfort he did in them.

His eyes scanned over the note a few times over before sticking the back on the board. He took the time to tear a bit of tape to secure it before making his way to his next class, the smile never leaving his face.

Since then, his eyes had always been instinctively scanning the board for colourful notes with a neat little "A" signed in the corner. Sometimes, the message was a simple song lyric that Shiro would recognize, while other times, it was a more personal one detailing good things that had happened to them. But no matter the message, it would always be written in pretty fonts and colours, and left Shiro with a goofy little smile.

So to say, he loved them so much, he had been tempted to take them off the board and keep them for himself on more than one occasion.

"You are dismissed," Professor Sendak announced, clapping the chalk dust off his hands.

Shiro sighed heavily, relieved that the class was finally over. As much as he loved learning new things about space travel, sitting still and listening to Professor Sendak drone on about the projectile motion of a rocket for two hours straight was challenging even for someone like him. It didn't help that he was running on four hours of sleep, and that the professor always seemed to have it out for him either. But while he was as excited to leave as the rest of his classmates, he took his time packing his things and getting ready to leave, slipping his pen back in his pencil case and placing it in his bag together with his notepad.

"Takashi, please stay behind for a few minutes," the professor called out as Shiro moved to stand up.

Shiro paused, immediately regretting not scurrying out as fast as he could. He mumbled a few curses under his breath as he raised his head to face his professor. Fighting the urge to scowl, he wore a neutral expression as he made his way to the front.

"Yes, professor?" he asked, shrugging a shoulder to keep his bag from slipping down his arm.

"I've noticed you've been consistently taking notes during my lectures," the older man started, turning to look down at his student. Shiro nodded along slowly, awaiting the next few words that would probably give him a truck load of more stress. "I need you to give me a printed copy of all your notes from this semester by Friday."

That was definitely a truck load of stress, but it was more than was Shiro had expected. He did a double take, staring at his professor with wide eyes.

"From this semester? As in, everything?" he asked, hoping that his professor was kidding. That was way too much material for him to make a copy of in only three days. Unfortunately, the older man nodded. There was a slight smile playing on his lips that hinted he was enjoying Shiro's displeasure, as much as the student tried to hide it.

"Yes, all of it. I want to know what my students have learned so far, and make sure I haven't missed out on any details," he explained, waving a hand nonchalantly, "Who better to ask than you, my favourite student?"

'Favourite student my ass,' Shiro thought, his eye twitching as he recalled all the times Professor Sendak had called him to answer a difficult question or do odd jobs for him. It was clear to anyone that his professor didn't like him, and his friends often tried to help take the load off of him.

"Of course, I will be giving you extra credit for your hard work," Professor Sendak added with a grin that held a somewhat sadistic tone.

As troublesome as it was, extra credit was always welcome for Shiro, especially since he was on a scholarship. His professor knew that and exploited it as much as he could, much to Shiro's dismay. The student couldn't do anything but suck it up and do as he was asked. He might have been suffering more than necessary, but at least his grade wasn't.

"I'll have it on your desk by Friday," Shiro answered, wearing a tight smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. He gave the older man a curt nod before turning on his heel and heading straight for the exit. He didn't have to look to know that his professor was watching him leave with his usual, sadistic grin.

Making it out into the hallways, Shiro allowed his neutral mask to drop as he scowled. Clenching his fist, he let out a shaky breathe, barely containing his annoyance. "Calm down, Shiro," he told himself, "You're just cranky from the lack of sleep. You need the extra credit."Taking a few more breaths, he relaxed his fingers and started walking, his destination set on the library. He figured it would be better to work on what was being asked as soon as possible. He could stop by the positivity board to read a few notes to help lift his spirits and help him through his absurd task since it was along the way as well.

He slipped his phone out from his back pocket, and checked to see if he had any texts. Skimming through his notifications, he ignored the ones from Instagram and Twitter, and focused on a text message from Keith, his roommate and childhood friend.

Keith Kogane

You done with classes?

Shiro chuckled dryly, texting back.

Takashi Shirogane

Hardly.

Sendak asked me to make him a copy of all my notes from this sem by Friday.

Keith Kogane

Oh shit, need any help?

Takashi Shirogane

It's cool, Keith. I can handle it.

Keith Kogane

Okay.

Let me know if you need anything.

Shiro had been in the middle of typing back a reply when he felt himself collide with another person. The force of the impact nearly caused him to drop his phone, but he reacted fast enough to catch it before it fell. He scowled, gripping the phone hard in his hands as he took a few deep breaths to keep himself from blowing up at the person who bumped into him. Looking up, he saw that the other person wasn't as lucky and papers scattered all around them, the person herself having been knocked down on her bum. Seeing this, the scow faded from his expression, and prickling guilt replaced his irritation.

Looking around sheepishly, Shiro quickly slid his phone back into his pocket and moved to help the girl up to her feet. It was situations like this that made Shiro feel embarrassed about having such a large body. Holding a hand out for the girl, Shiro noticed that she had long, curly, silver hair. Despite the fact that a number of students dyed their hair, it was surprising to see someone with such a colour.

When she looked up, Shiro had to stop himself from gasping as big, blue eyes met his. 'Oh shit,' he thought, 'She's pretty.' He found that the colour of her hair looked really good with her chocolate brown skin and bright blue eyes, and had to make a conscious effort not to gape. Instead, he offered her what he hoped was a kind smile. The mild surprise faded from her features, and she smiled back as she took his hand and let him pull her up to her feet.

"Sorry about that," Shiro apologized, bending down to start picking up the papers that had fallen around them. Luckily, it wasn't windy that day and they stayed in place.

"It's quite alright," the girl responded, kneeling down to do the same. "I should have watched where I was going."

"No, I wasn't looking either," he shook his head, "Sorry."

"I guess we both should watch where we're going," she laughed, and Shiro found himself chuckling along with the bright sound.

A calm quiet settled over them as they focused on gathering all the papers. Picking up one after the other, Shiro realized that these were notes, all written neatly in different coloured pens. Thinking the colours to be familiar, he knit his brows together and scanned over the sheets. He looked over headers that were written in different fonts, and over the chemistry-related terms written in neat handwriting. Although the content was vastly different, he recognized the style easily.

Excitement bubbled up in his stomach at the thought of meeting the person who wrote his favourite notes on the positivity board. Looking up from his stack of papers, he watched the girl move with a certain grace, straightening her own stack on her lap. He couldn't help staring at her with wonder, examining her features more closely and imagining her writing a few words on a sticky note. The girl noticed him staring, however, and smiled awkwardly.

"Is something wrong?" she asked unsurely, standing up to her full height.

Realizing that he had been staring, Shiro blinked and immediately straightened up. He felt his cheeks heat up as he awkwardly handed her the papers he had gathered.

"It's nothing," Shiro answered, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment, "I just thought your penmanship looked familiar."

She seemed to perk up at this, holding the papers to her chest and looking up at him with an excited smile. "Really? From where?" she asked.

"The, um…" he started, suddenly finding it hard to answer, "The positivity board?" He averted his gaze as he prepared himself for further embarrassment and disappointment in case she was not the one who wrote his favourite notes.

"Oh quiznak," the girl muttered, "You read my notes?"

Shiro's eyes snapped back to hers, and he was only mildly find her smiling brightly compared to how surprised he was to hear her say they were her notes. His previous worries forgotten, he grinned back at her and nodded enthusiastically.

"Every single day. They're my favourites, actually."

The girl's cheeks seemed to grow a faint red dusting as her smile grew wider. She raised a fist up over her mouth in good natured shock, which Shiro couldn't helping thinking as cute.

"I am so very happy to hear that," she said softly, as if she was too happy too even speak, "Thank you so much!"

"I should be the one thanking you," Shiro said, the tips of his ears growing red, "They really helped me get through some rough days."

"I'm so glad they did," the girl replied.

"I'm Shiro, by the way," he said, thinking now was as good as any time to introduce himself.

"Allura," she introduced herself, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Shiro."

'What a pretty name,' he thought.

"The pleasure's all mine," Shiro responded, the words coming to him easily with an easy smile, "Would you like to go out for some coffee some time?"

"That would be lovely."

Author's Note

hey guys! i started writing this maybe two or three weeks ago, but only finished it a few days ago. i don't really like it, and mostly just wanted to finish it, but i hope you enjoy!

this is based off of a prompt (pens) that came from my friend, emman! and special thanks to the sheith thirst fam for supporting and helping me while i agonized over what to write next xD

also, i know Shiro's confirmed to be gay but i started this before knowing that :') it's part of the reason i just wanted to finish this.